Men's soccer 2011

valpotx · October 07, 2011, 10:56:32 PM

Great win on the road tonight at WSU to top the conference table! How about that Texan connection to score the winner?

agibson · October 08, 2011, 01:18:09 PM

Definitely a big win for the team!

If Detroit hangs on for a tie against Milwaukee, they'll stay in first place after today, too.

They've been playing some good soccer. Thanks for starting the thread.

vuweathernerd · October 09, 2011, 06:27:01 PM

according to the hl twitter, oral roberts scored 3 unanswered to win 3-2 today at brown field

agibson · October 10, 2011, 01:44:21 PM

Three in like 35 minutes, apparently.

Doesn't give you confidence, exactly. But, the most important games are the league ones. Still top of the table!

Ohio State this weekend. So far this season, we're 1-0 against the Big Ten.

agibson · October 16, 2011, 08:49:32 PM

A quality tie this afternoon. And a draw as well. As 0-0 draws go, it was was quite enjoyable. Funny to see the field in the light of day!

Ohio State's been regionally ranked since the beginning of the season; sort of a top-level Horizon League caliber? UIC's ranked ahead of them at the moment.

Valpo often had the better of the play, and had a number of decent opportunities, but couldn't find the back of the net. Solid goalkeeping, and enough defense and midfield play, kept them with another clean sheet.

I never watch Valpo's defense and say "Ooh - that's good." Maybe goalkeeping occasionally. But, they're leading the league in "goals against average", shutouts, etc. and will tie a team single season shutout record with the next. So, they're doing something right.

They haven't found a consistent scorer. But, do manage medium-consistent offensive pressure. Enough, along with the defense, to make them somewhat dangerous.

It'll be very interesting to see how they fare against the rest of the League. They're now the only team unbeaten in conference play. The rest comes fast and furious - five games in two weeks, starting Saturday.

The game was made especially amusing by the free vuvuzelas. They should have handed these things out at the beginning of the season! You can listen for them at
Valpo Crusaders (MSOCC) vs. Ohio St.

I'll be curious to see if they made a difference for the players. Certainly good fun for the fans! My kids loved them too.

agibson · October 20, 2011, 12:35:43 PM

A good win over IPFW in the wet the other night, 2-0. I was watching in the dry, via HLN. The video quality was decent - the commentary, from VU students I gather, was... of mixed quality and professionalism.

The heart of the season begins Saturday, at Brown field, hosting Milwaukee.

valpopal · October 20, 2011, 01:10:20 PM

Quote from: agibson on October 20, 2011, 12:35:43 PM
A good win over IPFW in the wet the other night, 2-0. I was watching in the dry, via HLN. The video quality was decent - the commentary, from VU students I gather, was... of mixed quality and professionalism.

The heart of the season begins Saturday, at Brown field, hosting Milwaukee.

This was a good win, but your description of the announcing is a bit generous. The following from "Awful Announcing":

"If you dare, you are about to view the worst three minutes of soccer play-by-play in recorded history from this Valparaiso vs IPFW game. There's so many gems in here that it's hard to pick a favorite."

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2011-articles/october/valpo-soccer-announcers-get-an-qaq-for-awful-announcing.html

agibson · October 20, 2011, 02:27:55 PM

Hilarious! I'm greatly amused that the call got such wide attention. It's the first Valpo soccer game I'd watched on HLN, so I wasn't sure if it was typical, or not.

I really did mean mixed. I mean, obviously, it was mostly super casual. Sort of, two guys sitting around in their dorm room kibbitzing style. So, in that sense, there was no effort at professionalism. But, it was sort of fun that these guys were clearly connected with the program (one or both were reserves? or injured players? or seemed to have some connection). And, when they bothered to talk about the game, they sometimes exhibited a bit of interesting analysis, and even some decent play-by-play. Better than I could do, say, in those respects.

But, yeah, an F for professionalism. But, they obviously weren't even trying for a polished, professional, broadcast.

valporun · October 20, 2011, 08:11:36 PM

I was watching that match, and the guys calling the game seemed to suffer from a weird case of ADD. They were comically struggling with the word 'Kokomo', and anytime the ball was near IPFW's box they were giddy with anticipation, then their goal calls were like high schoolers watching Telemundo or Univision coverage of the game. It was like watching the McKenzie(sp?) brothers from 'SCTV' and Strange Brew calling a goal, like they were just trying out their best scream....

milanmiracle · October 23, 2011, 08:01:44 AM

Boo. The video link has been removed.

valpotx · October 23, 2011, 12:59:37 PM

Nice win against Milwaukee to remain at the top of the standings with a game or two in hand against those behind us! This team has the potential to get us our first HL regular season championship, as the close games we lost last year, we are winning this year.

agibson · October 23, 2011, 02:40:00 PM

Quote from: milanmiracle on October 23, 2011, 08:01:44 AM
Boo. The video link has been removed.

Was there ever a video link for this game? It was on the radio (and should have had streaming audio?), but at least in the day or two before the game there was no video link.

Was clear from Milwaukee's pre-game notes too.

Big win! Also, from the Milwaukee notes, they were on something like a thirteen-game "at least one goal scored" streak dating back to last season. "No more" says Zobeck and the Crusader defense. Milwaukee led most of the offensive categories (goals, assists, shots per game) so far this season, but Valpo shut them out.

And this with Zobeck coming off being named "Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Month" with his 3.96 GPA in mechanical engineering.

Zobeck/Valpo have already broken their single-season shutout record, with hopefully at least five or six games left to play. They have a shot at entering the Horizon League recordbook
for single season numbers in shutouts (a good chance; need two more) and even goals against average.

Those last two are really team awards. This season, Valpo's way ahead in number of shutouts, and goals against average. All while Valpo's dead _last_ in saves. (Zobeck was only tested once last night.) Zobeck is fourth, among goalkeepers, in save percentage - so he's no slouch by himself, either.

It was a good game last night. I showed up at half time - and it looked pretty tense. Tied at zero. Both teams came out very aggressively, and it was obviously physical, and chippy. A pushing match or two. It looked like it might get ugly - but thankfully scoring a goal (and then another) defused the tension a bit.

One of my favorite types of goals! It shows that my angle wasn't so good from the stands. I saw a possibly slightly looping shot, that looked like it might go over, that then rebounded solidly off the cross bar. Then, I saw Kevin Miller go in for a great rebound - I thought he probably headed it in. From the game report, it sounds like he took the shot off the crossbar, and then followed his own shot in (with his foot?). Anyhow, a great goal, from Physics and Astronomy's own.

With half their Horizon League season behind them, Valpo's looking good - but there's a lot yet to be seen. They already have results against the other two teams sitting at ten points (Wright State who needed an additional game to get ten points, and Cleveland State who needed two).

Loyola, who Valpo takes on next, on the road, might be the easiest looking of the remaining games. UIC and Butler have struggled in Horizon League play, but have both been regionally ranked this season. And Green Bay's just behind us in the league table, at 9 points.

Some of the players seem to have a chip on their shoulders about missing the HL tournament last year. And, they're talking about the NCAA's. Could be good!

valpo04 · October 23, 2011, 02:46:26 PM

Quote from: agibson on October 23, 2011, 02:40:00 PM
Quote from: milanmiracle on October 23, 2011, 08:01:44 AM
Boo. The video link has been removed.

Was there ever a video link for this game? It was on the radio (and should have had streaming audio?), but at least in the day or two before the game there was no video link.

Was clear from Milwaukee's pre-game notes too.

He was referring to the video posted in the Awful Announcing link.

valpopal · October 23, 2011, 02:48:37 PM

This year's men's soccer team has a level of confidence that is refreshing. I spoke to one of the prominent players on the team, and he told me the team felt insulted by those on campus who congratulated them just for playing Ohio State to a tie. He said the players expect only to be congratulated for victories, whether the opponent is Ohio State or any other team.

agibson · October 23, 2011, 03:56:51 PM

Quote from: valpo04 on October 23, 2011, 02:46:26 PM

He was referring to the video posted in the Awful Announcing link.

Ah, right. Yeah, reportedly that disappeared pretty quickly.

agibson · October 23, 2011, 03:58:51 PM

Quote from: valpopal on October 23, 2011, 02:48:37 PM
This year's men's soccer team has a level of confidence that is refreshing. I spoke to one of the prominent players on the team, and he told me the team felt insulted by those on campus who congratulated them just for playing Ohio State to a tie. He said the players expect only to be congratulated for victories, whether the opponent is Ohio State or any other team.

Interesting! I guess it's good to have a driven attitude like that.

But, I thought it _was_ a decent result. A hard fought match against a tough opponent, producing a fair result. I didn't hesitate to congratulate players about it. 1-0-1 against the Big 10's not so bad - even in soccer.

KL31NY · October 23, 2011, 05:15:47 PM

Quote from: agibson on October 23, 2011, 03:58:51 PM
Quote from: valpopal on October 23, 2011, 02:48:37 PM
This year's men's soccer team has a level of confidence that is refreshing. I spoke to one of the prominent players on the team, and he told me the team felt insulted by those on campus who congratulated them just for playing Ohio State to a tie. He said the players expect only to be congratulated for victories, whether the opponent is Ohio State or any other team.

Interesting! I guess it's good to have a driven attitude like that.

But, I thought it _was_ a decent result. A hard fought match against a tough opponent, producing a fair result. I didn't hesitate to congratulate players about it. 1-0-1 against the Big 10's not so bad - even in soccer.

It was a good result on its face. The players are disappointed because they had a few really good chances and felt they played much better than to receive just a tie. Avery's post-game quotes online said as much following the contest.

agibson · October 23, 2011, 09:36:30 PM

I'll have to look back at the Ohio State post-game report. I may never have read it.

It just occurred to me that the first men's basketball exhibition is directly opposite the Valpo-UIC soccer game, perhaps the biggest of the season to that point. Tough! At least they're physically proximate, I suppose one could even move back and forth a bit...

agibson · October 24, 2011, 10:23:53 PM

To add to his scholar-athlete award, Zobeck becomes the first Crusader this season to pick up the Horizon League Men's Soccer Player of the Week recognition.

http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/valpos-zobeck-records-mens-soccer-player-of-the-week-honor.html
http://www.valpoathletics.com/msoccer/news/2011-12/11123/zobeck-earns-horizon-league-weekly-accolade/

Quote
Zobeck did all that was asked of him in the two matches, notching a save in both while directing a stout Valparaiso defensive effort. With his eighth shutout of the year on Saturday, Zobeck set a new Valparaiso single-season record.

78crusader · October 26, 2011, 09:06:08 PM

VU wins again tonight, 1-0. Still undefeated (with one tie) in conference play and still on top of the league. We have a decent chance now to grab our first-ever Horizon league title, in any sport. Paul

valporun · October 26, 2011, 09:06:55 PM

The men's soccer team just defeated Loyola, 1-0. The goal came in the second half, scored by sophomore Charles Barden. The win keeps the Crusaders undefeated in HL play. They are now 4-0-1 in the league, and 8-5-3 overall. Let's Go Crusaders! We could be hosting the semis and championship game for the conference tourney, if we can keep this going. We have three more conference games remaining.

valpotx · October 27, 2011, 12:51:56 AM

Doing well and keep it up!

agibson · October 27, 2011, 12:34:01 PM

Very good of Aaron Leavitt (assistant SID) to add a live chat for a game that was otherwise rather inaccessible remotely (no video, no audio).

A win in their next game, against UIC, guarantees them a top four finish (in the tournament, and not traveling in the play-in round), with two games to play.

Even a draw guarantees them a tournament spot (again, with two games to play).

And, in fact, maybe they've already clinched a tournament spot. I'm not sure how the tiebreakers work. It looks like the worst they can do is a tie for 6th with UIC (who they've yet to play), or a three-way tie for 5th with Butler and Wright State (and Valpo's already beat Wright State). But, anyway, it better not come to that.

If memory serves, the tournament format is 6 teams (of 9 that compete in soccer). With #3 hosting 6, and 4 hosting 5 in the first round. And then the remaining teams traveling to the number one seed for the balance of the tournament.

Could be big time!

Valpo's only allowed two shots on goal in the last three games, combined. They've not given up a goal in the last four games (another 20 minutes or so to set the team record for consecutive minutes with no goals allowed).

KL31NY · October 27, 2011, 12:58:01 PM

If I'm reading the standings correctly, the worst we could do is lose out, have Butler win out, and tie for 6th with the Bulldogs gaining the head-to-head tiebreaker in that scenario. So I don't think we've clinched yet, but we are very close.

Butler plays Detroit Saturday afternoon and Valpo plays UIC Saturday evening. If VU draws or wins or BU draws or loses, the Crusader are in the tournament... again this is all assuming that I am correct

valporun · October 27, 2011, 01:10:06 PM

Here are the scores from last night's HL soccer matches:

Valpo 1, Loyola 0

Green Bay 3, Detroit 1

UIC 2, Wright St. 0

Cleveland St. 2, Butler 1

In non-conference action:

Wisconsin 2, UW-Milwaukee 0